Track runners prep for section meet

San Lorenzo Valley High and Scotts Valley High will send a host of athletes to the Central Coast Section track and field semifinal meet this weekend.
Sarah Edwards and Chelsea Gilbert will lead the way for the SLV Cougars. Edwards won the 200- and 400-meter dashes at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League finals and holds the school record in the 200-meter dash. Gilbert was tops in the 300-meter hurdles and finished second in the 100 hurdles at the league finals, qualifying her for both events at the CCS meet.
The SLV boys and girls 4-by-400-meter teams will also head to the CCS meet after finishing second at the league finals. Matt Shisler, Allan Hetke, Alejandro Torres and Ian Rutman will run for the boys, and Emma Ussat, Shelly Williams, Courtney Eggleston and Edwards for the girls.
In the field events, Amanda Lackides in the pole vault, Sierra Clark in the shot put and Kyle Todd in discus and shot put round out the SLV qualifiers.
Coming off the boys league championship, Scotts Valley will send its boys 4-by-100 and 4-by-400 relay teams to the CCS meet.
Stephen Haas, Brad Hartman, Aldin Barrett and Blake Jurich will run the 4-by-100, and Hartman, Barrett, Haas and Kyle McNulty will run the 4-by-400.
Haas will run in the open 400-meter race, and Hartman qualified in the 100- and 200-meter races. Team captain Mike Pond qualified in the 300 hurdles, the long jump, high jump and triple jump but will not participate because of a ruptured disc in his back.
McNulty will run the 1,600-meters, and Michael Benko will pole vault.
For the girls team, Brittany Kuo will compete in the 100-meter dash and long jump. She will be joined by Abby Imboden in the 300-meter hurdles.
The semifinal meet will kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at Gilroy High, 750 W. 10th St., in Gilroy. A complete schedule is available at www.cifccs.org.
The CCS finals will be May 29, also at Gilroy High.